Similarity of symbolism between Gobekli Tepe and Kortik Tepe
Allister Coombs brought these images of symbols at Kortik Tepe to my attention recently. I have seen them before, but think they deserve to be highlighted now. Kortik Tepe's symbolism is discussed by Benz and Bauer in 2015 in the Journal of Ritual Studies. They attribute the symbolism to shamanism, much like the archaeologists working at Gobekli Tepe who attribute its symbolism to shamanism as well. Kortik is not that far from Gobekli, being part of a group of settlements near the other great Mesopotamian river, the Tigris. Gobekli is much closer to the Euphrates. The Kortik settlement is thought to have begun during the early part of the Younger Dryas and therefore is thought to predate Gobekli. But since we don't know Gobekli's true age, this is conjecture. Since it is obvious that Gobekli's shamanistic symbolism is strongly linked to astronomy and the Younger Dryas impact, we can expect the same of Kortik, and this is indeed borne out by the evidence. Note that there